Teachers/parents, what's your take on this?

[disneywith4boys]

I agree with your post that some schools are just getting out of hand. My children too go to a Catholic school in Ct. (we're neighbors), preK-8. Their is no homework in the preK or in K. We're only up 3rd grade so far, but homework is still only 20 mins a night, m-Th. My son is also in an Enrichment class so he has extra work that is probably 20 more mins a week, and 1/2 hr a week more reading. Very manageable at this point. I really don't understand why some schools need to send so much work home for the kids. BTW, our school is a Blue Ribbon school (recognized a a top school in the country). My nephew who came from our grammer school just got a perfect score on his PSAT math and only a few wrong on the other sections. So more homework isn't the only way to get better students. I'm still flabergasted about homework in preschool. I understand your wishes to send your child to the preschool in order to get into the other grades, but the parents should band together and insist in no homework for their preschoolers.
Can anyone else out there convince me that homework in preschool is needed?

 

[dfarner]

I do agree with you on the projects though. We are getting slammed this year. D10 is in 4th grade and everything is a project. I was griping the other day about what happened to old fashioned book reports bc getting DS to do these arts and craft book reports is tough. I was told it is all about differentiated learning so that maybe another sutdent can shine and feel confident doing this kind of book report. Ok I am all for that but sometimes I think we are leaning too far one way. And as someone pointed out the CEO is not going to hand you a shoebox to do your report with, he is going to expect you to WRITE a well written report.

Those projects are referred to in my district as PBAs or Performance Based Assessments. The PBA goes beyond paper testing (think Bloom's Taxonomy). I teach 4th grade and require one per quarter for each subject that I teach, which is Social Studies and Reading/Writing. The purpose of the PBA is to assess what the child has learned by how he can interpret and express the content material. I give my students a choice board for each project, and they are able to choose what they most want to do. Yes, there is usually an "arts and crafts" type component to the project, but there is also a written component as well. You would not believe how proud the children are when it comes time to present their project to the class.

On another note, in one of the posts I believe somebody questioned just exactly what goes on in a school day to not allow for the things that need to get done. I can only speak for my school and classroom, and this is what "goes on" at school: health screenings, book fairs, honor roll celebrations, fund raising assemblies, puking kids, weather emergencies, kid emergencies, parent emergencies, science fairs, guest speakers, etc. Yes, there really is a lot "going on", and yes, just like at Disney World, anything (except maybe the puking kids) can be turned into a "teaching moment".

To the OP, I would suggest sitting down with your child's teacher and/or principal to discuss your concerns/frustrations. You mentioned it being a private school, so I am guessing you pay tuition. It is always your choice to pull your kids and homeschool if you feel you are paying for an education that your children are not receiving. I hope that you find what you are looking for for your children.

 

[tchrrx]

I have to strongly disagree with you. I live in upstate NY & 2 of my children go to a public school. There are 3 schools within minutes of each other in the city I live in. (1 public & 2 private) On a website, I believe it's "Great Schools", you can compare the schools in your town. Of course, I do. The 3rd-6th grade students at the public school, scored higher on the NYS ELA testing, NYS Math testing and NYS Social Studies testing then the other 2 private schools. And as for, meetings & training, my kids have 2 days off this year due to "staff develpoment day". I do realize that each state is different, but I find it hard to believe that private schools in general get more education. I think it comes down to teachers & parents. If we put 100% in then that's what you'll get out of your children. If you don't show interest in their school & homework (which I know, can be painstakingly boring) why should they.
Signed~proud mother of a very smart high honors 6th grader & honor roll 2nd grader and and 18 month old who's too samrt for her own good!!!

I totally understand your point. I guess I should have clarified that I meant the difference between the two schools I've worked at, not private vs. public in general. Sorry about that! Of course, I totally agree that it is very much based on the parent/teacher/student (and administration!!!!) commitment and dedication to the job. At the public school I was at, there was very little commitment from anyone. Therefore, it made life miserable. (which is, of course, why I left!) Sorry if I came across as saying private schools are always better.

 

[Rylee]

A lot of good points have been made in this thread. I'm not passing judgement, just stating my views and feelings...

As the parent, I am responsible for educating my child. I am responsible for their mental and physical well-being.

I am not a teacher, any more than I am a doctor, but their education is just as much my responsibility as making sure they are safe and healthy.

I realize some things are not within our control, but we have choices... I can not perform surgery on my child, but I can do everything to research his condition and find the best possible doctors for treating his condition, etc., that is my responsibility. Teachers and schools are only one of the many "tools" I use to educate my children.

To the OP - your children are enrolled in a private school, perhaps you should seek to find a school that meets your expectations or address their school and/or at the very least, their teachers, with your concerns.

P.S.
Since I am responsible for my children, I will decide if and when to pull them from school, for whatever reason, including family vacations.

 

[Annabelleasb]

I totally understand your point. I guess I should have clarified that I meant the difference between the two schools I've worked at, not private vs. public in general. Sorry about that! Of course, I totally agree that it is very much based on the parent/teacher/student (and administration!!!!) commitment and dedication to the job. At the public school I was at, there was very little commitment from anyone. Therefore, it made life miserable. (which is, of course, why I left!) Sorry if I came across as saying private schools are always better.

Oh that's ok ...The whole school thing is a big deal to me because where I live all of the "political people" & "known names" send their kids to the private schools. (because THEIR kids aren't going to a public school) Yet, once they've graduated from grade/middle school they send them right up to the public highschool.

 

[DMG378]

For me, I think it all depends on the child. If your child is doing really good in school and haven't missed a bunch of days, I say go for it!! From 2001-05, I"ve pulled my middle child (DD) out of school for a week for Pop Warner's Nationals. In 2005, I've also pulled my oldest (DS). This year, we are now getting ready for Disney in just a couple of weeks. DS is now a senior in HS and he'll be missing almost a week. DD is excused since it deals with her HS dance team. Neither one of them have missed a day of school yet, and they are both doing really good. I will also be sending a letter to their teachers letting them know what days they will be missing and for any school work they will miss. I"ve been lucky enough to have cool teachers that just say enjoy your trip and don't give anything. BUT there are a couple that do load them with work. I will not let them take any school books with them, so they do what they can before we leave, and the rest when we come back. Our school policy is if you are out of school, say for 4 days, then you have 4 days to make up the work, so I'm not worried about it.
One year, my DD did a written report on the Living Seas, so there's a lot of learning at Disney!

 

[odc146]

Just wanted to add my 2 cents. My son just had to miss 1 week of school due to major knee surgery. He is in 8th grade, always gets A's and B's and is in advanced math. It was really suprising how quickly they can get behind especially in math and spanish. Also he missed 1 major math test and 1 science test. He is doing a good job of keeping up and getting his make up work done, but I think it caused him a lot of stress trying to do double the work. Oh and we did request and received the work for the week he was to miss on the Friday before his surgery on the following Tuesday. Having seen this I couldn't imagine choosing to pull my kids out of school for vacation. This means we have to go during the brutal summer months, but to me it is worth it for my kids not to be stressed out trying to do make up work and current work. Just wanted to add my experience and opinion.

 

[pplasky]

My take on this...

I'm a 1st grade teacher ..I pull DD13 (freshman), DS9 (4th grade), & myself out every year for WDW. We usually miss 6 school days, but in 2006, we each missed 11.

Hasn't hurt us so far...

DD13 (Freshman) has a 4.0 & is taking 4 Honors classes. She's scheduled to take 2 AP classes next year.
All this is on top of already skipping a grade.

DS9 always makes the A/B Honor roll.

When it starts to affect their grades...I'll stop pulling them out.

**I also feel that missing one week of school is not going to affect them in the long run...no one is NOT going to get into the college of their choice solely because they spent some school time in WDW.

And what about the students you teach. There is a thing called responsibility, and if you make decisions for your children, that's one thing, but taking a vacation for yourself as a teacher is very unprofessional.

 

[meandtheguys2]

And what about the students you teach. There is a thing called responsibility, and if you make decisions for your children, that's one thing, but taking a vacation for yourself as a teacher is very unprofessional.

You don't take a vacation from your job?

 

[twooley2]

I think this question involves if the teacher teaches 12 months out of the year and takes a couple of weeks off of work or a month, but a whole summer off and than additional vacation is bordering not being counted as a vacation. I know most jobs give vacation days but not many give an entire summer off than some

 

[mommapoppins]

And what about the students you teach. There is a thing called responsibility, and if you make decisions for your children, that's one thing, but taking a vacation for yourself as a teacher is very unprofessional.

You don't take a vacation from your job?

It doesn't hurt those kids to have a substitute teacher for a week. And actually it probably helps her to be fresh and relaxed for when she comes back, so I don't think there is a huge issue here. I am sure that if the children she teaches weren't up to grade level at the end of the year, she wouldn't be able to take vacation the following year. It is ridiculous to think any teacher won't miss at least a few days during the year.

Anyway back to the thread! I have read this thread with great interest and to the OP, I think you are a great mom and have the right to wonder about this school. Every parent needs to take an interest in their child's education, which might include helping with spelling words,etc. but as a daycare provider, I have seen 2nd and 3rd graders with hours of homework every day. I happen to think this is absolutely ridiculous.

At childcare trainings, they always talk to us about the importance of play in a child's learning. If they don't have time to play because of all the busywork, I believe they have lost out on a wonderful learning opportunity. It is very important for children to have time to use their imaginations, and also to have down time.

Our family has decided to homeschool our children, for a variety of reasons. In a traditional school setting, lots of time is lost to bus rides, bathroom breaks, and lining up in the hall. I was a preschool teacher and got very frustrated with all of the time that was taken by the mere washing of hands.

Also, teachers in a large classroom setting pretty much have to teach to the lowest common denominator. Meaning those who are advanced sit in their seats doing busywork while waiting on the others to finish. And if someone doesn't get it, they get sent home with a pile of homework so their parents can help them to get it. Teaching is not an easy job and I think many teachers are underpaid for the job that they do, but that's a topic for another thread.

Of course the parents should be a part of their child's education, but there are other things to be learned than just the three R's. There are things like being a good person, working hard, and other personal values. Things that can't be taught in a classroom setting. Things that the parents are responsible for teaching. I think the few hours in the evening that the parents have with the children should be used to teach these other important lessons.

Well, that's my two cents. I am donning my flame resistant suit now.

 

[daisyduck123]

but taking a vacation for yourself as a teacher is very unprofessional.

No its not. Try and take that up with my principal, & she'll back me up all the way.
My students also get an awesome substitiute teacher....our school's former Reading teacher....she really knows our reading program. Heck, she's the one who inserviced our staff on it several years ago!

 

[fishie]

I think this question involves if the teacher teaches 12 months out of the year and takes a couple of weeks off of work or a month, but a whole summer off and than additional vacation is bordering not being counted as a vacation. I know most jobs give vacation days but not many give an entire summer off than some

Although I homeschool, now, when I was teaching, I never had the summer truly off. Neither did most of my colleagues. If we didn't have a second job, we were taking college classes ourselves in order to keep our credential up-to-date, or we were preparing lessons for the coming school year, or all of the above. During the school year, my evenings and weekends were spend grading papers, preparing lessons for the coming weeks and months, and taking more of those college classes. I always said that being a teacher meant working lawyers' hours but without the salary. There's nothing at all unprofessional about a teacher taking a vacation in the middle of the school year.

 

[danx2plus3more]

bump...i like this one

 

[badblackpug]

You don't take a vacation from your job?

I don't get the whole summer, the week between Christmas and New Years, a week around Easter, every weekend, and every holiday off. My salary is not paid by taxpayer money.

But I digress. OP, if you are not happy with your kids' school, take them out. It is a private school, and I would not pay extra money for a school that is not educating my children to my satisfaction. It is like buying a Mercedes that doesn't run, just because it is a Mercedes.

As for homework, I have no problem with my kids having homework. Thay are also required to read for 20 minutes a day and do a journal entry on what they read. I also make them do extra work in addition to this, all summer long they each do a page a day out of workbooks in each school subject. I buy the workbooks that correspond to the grade they are going into.

Also, as technology advances there is more and more for children to learn before thay graduate. There is a limited amount of time for them to do so. So, yes, I think that more responsibility is falling on parents, but what else can we do? (as an aside it really ticks me off when parents do their kids projects for them, and you know which projects were done by the parents. It is unfair to the kids. The ones whose parents do the projects, because they don't learn, and the kids who have to do their own because they feel inadequate)

I think that there is a lot to be learned in Disney, but I do not consider it an educational vacation. I am always amazed at the things that my kids have learned from the trip, but, but I'm also always amazed at the things they pick up everywhere. Our purpose for visiting WDW is not educational. It is fun.

As for whether, or not, you take your kids out of school that is a personal choice. I try not to do it becasue I fear them falling behind. We take a 10 day trip and they miss 1 day. This year it will be Halloween.

 

[meandtheguys2]

I don't get the whole summer, the week between Christmas and New Years, a week around Easter, every weekend, and every holiday off. My salary is not paid by taxpayer money.

But you take your earned time off when your employer allows it?

Hookairs who pays it? DH works for the State U. He gets 10 holidays, 22 vacation days, and 3 personal days to take when it is agreeable to his boss.

I'm not arguing re. teachers days off. I think they exaggerate how much overtime they put in, and I think outsiders don't understand how much they put in. Like most things in life there are two sides.

But it is between an employer and employee to decide what is appropriate.

 

[badblackpug]

But you take your earned time off when your employer allows it?

Hookairs who pays it? DH works for the State U. He gets 10 holidays, 22 vacation days, and 3 personal days to take when it is agreeable to his boss.

I'm not arguing re. teachers days off. I think they exaggerate how much overtime they put in, and I think outsiders don't understand how much they put in. Like most things in life there are two sides.

But it is between an employer and employee to decide what is appropriate.

"Hookairs"? I CARE. I pay a HUGE amount of property taxes to fund a public school system. I would be exceptionally angry if one of my children's teachers decided to take a 10 day vacation in the middle of a school year. My children would never be excused for the same amount of time. Vacations are "unexcused" absences. The school makes it clear that we are expected to vacation during summer and school holidays, so as not to disrupt the learning environment. I expect the same amount of dedication from my childrens' teachers. It is different in private school and on the university level where teachers salaries are funded by tuition, and it is your choice whether your children attend that school in the 1st place.

 

[PiperPizzaz]

I agree with you.
I totally have never agreed with homework. Except for college and that is because you don't sit all day every day in the classes. I am sorry but, even in high school there was a LOT of sitting about and I never had a study hall class and I still had loads of time. I did my homework then but, most did not. The school just are not efficient enough for me.
It is NOT the teachers. I love teachers and think they are fantastic. It is just the entire concept of the way schools have always been and that is how they have to be. Bleh.

 

[momto2girls]

My kids K teacher in our school just said to me the other day she can't believe she's having to teach her K class what a noun is. She also strongly feels these young children aren't ready to learn all this, and it's like trying to teach a 7 month old to walk. You can try and try and try, and they'll eventually get it, but no faster than if you just waited till they were ready and just did it then (does that make sense?)

I agree with so much that you posted, but I particularly agree with this. I think the schools are doing a huge disservice forcing difficult concepts down to younger and younger children. Sure, some of them can get it, but what is the point really? They could also get it with much less frustration if the schools waited until the appropriate time to teach them.

I do believe that the way that the public schools are structured kids can get an adequate education at best. The only way that children are going to get anything better than that is to have heavy parent involvement and lots of extra work at home. I'm sure that most of the parents who post here on the Family Board do that, but of course many from the rest of the population do not. I am NOT saying that I agree with all of the homework that children get. In fact, I don't. I think that reading at home, practicing spelling words and doing flashcards (for the younger grades) is necessary, but all of the busywork and projects are definitely not adding value IMO. (It is likely doing nothing more than making many children hate school and sending them into burnout at some point.) I'm just saying that if parents don't spend the time working with their children at home there will be huge gaps in their education. I don't fault the teachers at all, but I do fault the structure of the school system now.

So, we homeschool. I have a million reasons why we do, but this whole issue is one of the biggies. I do not think that my children will get an exceptional education if I sent them off to school. I don't think that they will get anything that is anywhere close to excellent (even though we live in a district with "excellent" schools). I could send them, of course, and just spend lots of time with them after school teaching them everything that I feel that they missed, but how is that fair to them? When will they get to be little kids and just play? When will we have family time? So, we homeschool partly for its efficiency. Fortunately, we have lots of homeschoolers around and there are many activities for my kids to participate and since we are not sending them to private school, we have funds left over for activities/lessons/private instruction for fields out of my comfort zone, etc.

I'm not trying to make this a post about homeschooling, but I just wanted you to know that your concerns are one of the main reasons that we decided to homeschool.

And don't even get me started on all of the testing the schools do.

 

[leighe]

My salary is not paid by taxpayer
money./QUOTE]

I think this is a silly arguement. I shop at Target but I would never say to a Target employee, "I pay your salary."

As for school year vacations - I don't think it's a big deal for a teacher or students to take time off if that is the only time the family could vacation together. I don't think its appropriate to miss school (teachers or students) just because it's a cheaper season, better weather, fewer crowds, etc.